Jensen Huang and Chung Eui-sun Prepare for Second Meeting on Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, poses for a photo during a meeting with Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, at a chicken restaurant in Samsung-dong, Seoul, on October 30 last year. [Photo=Yonhap News]

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is visiting South Korea, and Hyundai Motor Group is closely monitoring the situation as they anticipate a second meeting with Huang. Most of Hyundai's future business ventures, including autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots, and artificial intelligence (AI), are closely linked to NVIDIA's technology, which could have significant implications if a meeting occurs.

According to industry sources, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, is not expected to attend the upcoming meeting with Huang, which will include SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin at a barbecue restaurant near Hongdae in Seoul on June 5.

However, industry insiders predict that Huang will likely meet with Chung at Hyundai's headquarters in Yangjae after visiting the AI research center and robotics lab at Seoul National University on June 8. If this meeting takes place, it would mark the second encounter since their initial meeting last year.

The relationship between Chung and Huang dates back to the APEC summit last year when Huang visited South Korea. During that visit, he solidified their partnership over a meal of chicken and beer at Kkanbu Chicken in Samsung-dong, Seoul, alongside Lee Jae-yong.

Since the so-called "Kkanbu meeting," industry experts have noted that collaboration between Hyundai Motor Group and NVIDIA has accelerated. This partnership led to Hyundai receiving 50,000 Blackwell GPUs, which are AI accelerators. Hyundai is leveraging Blackwell to drive innovations in autonomous vehicles, AI data centers, and robotics.

Among Hyundai's future projects, autonomous driving technology is the most closely tied to NVIDIA. The company is developing a universal platform capable of supporting autonomous driving from Level 2+ to Level 4, based on NVIDIA's Drive Hyperion platform.

To facilitate this, Hyundai appointed Park Min-woo, a former NVIDIA executive, as the head of its AVP division. Last month, the company also hired Lee Hee-seok, another former NVIDIA employee, to expedite the commercialization of autonomous driving technology.

Hyundai's robotics initiatives are also expected to benefit directly from this collaboration. Its subsidiary, Boston Dynamics, is equipping its humanoid robot, Atlas, with NVIDIA's Jetson Thor, a dedicated AI computing platform for robots. The two companies are also developing a robotics foundation model that enables robots to understand and mimic human language and actions without programming.

A Hyundai representative stated, "We are closely watching the news of Jensen Huang's visit to South Korea," but added, "It has not yet been decided whether a meeting between the two chairmen will take place."

* This article has been translated by AI.

Oh Jooseok farbrother@ajunews.com